Latest / Best of the NFL Podcast Network / The Season with Peter Schrager: Cincinnati Bengals OC Brian Callahan, a Brock Purdy Deep Dive, and Why The Vikings Get No Respect

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The Season with Peter Schrager: Cincinnati Bengals OC Brian Callahan, a Brock Purdy Deep Dive, and Why The Vikings Get No Respect · Best of the NFL Podcast Network

0:07
Speaker 1: The Season with Peter Schreeger as a production of the
0:09
Speaker 1: NFL in partnership with My Heart Radio. What's Up, Everybody?
0:23
Speaker 1: This is Peter Schreeger on the host of Good Morning
0:26
Speaker 1: Football on the NFL network. I work on Fox NFL
0:29
Speaker 1: Kickoff on Sundays for Fox Sports, and my newest venture
0:34
Speaker 1: is this beautiful podcast called This Season with Peter Schreeger.
0:39
Speaker 1: We are getting more and more listeners every week. It
0:42
Speaker 1: is a sign of great strength, but a sign of
0:44
Speaker 1: great growth. And at the end of the year, I'm
0:46
Speaker 1: just grateful for everyone who has been listening and has
0:49
Speaker 1: been coming along on the ride. I am joined by
0:52
Speaker 1: my producer, Aaron woon Kaufman. Aaron, what is up man?
0:55
Speaker 1: Week fourteen? How are you? I'm pretty good. It was
0:57
Speaker 1: a great week of football this weekend. There was like
1:00
Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of storylines, a lot of
1:01
Speaker 1: playoff pictures coming together. Really exciting weekend. It lived up
1:06
Speaker 1: to the to the billing last weekend. It was one
1:09
Speaker 1: of those deals where I around Tuesday was like, wait
1:12
Speaker 1: a second, this has got loaded weekend. We've got you know, giants, commanders,
1:16
Speaker 1: You've got the Dolphins and the Niner storyline. You've got Uh,
1:19
Speaker 1: this incredible Bengals Chiefs rematch. And then sure enough find
1:23
Speaker 1: myself on Monday night up until midnight watching Saints Buccaneers
1:28
Speaker 1: and I posed this question um on Good Morning Football
1:31
Speaker 1: to start the show. Everyone you know on Tuesday morning
1:34
Speaker 1: and that's where we're recording this right now, is like,
1:36
Speaker 1: what a come back by Brady? What an amazing thing
1:38
Speaker 1: by Brady. In fact, uh, there was a tweet that
1:41
Speaker 1: went out and it was it was from front off
1:44
Speaker 1: his Sports. They said, tonight, with just over three minutes
1:46
Speaker 1: to go, the Bucks trailed by the felt the Saints
1:48
Speaker 1: by thirteen points. They had a three point three percent
1:51
Speaker 1: chance to win at that point pre HISPN and with
1:54
Speaker 1: eight seconds left, Tom Brady through the latest game winning
1:56
Speaker 1: touchdown of his twenty three year career. And your initial
2:00
Speaker 1: reaction is, Brady is amazing. How did he do it?
2:03
Speaker 1: You can never count him out? And that's all right.
2:07
Speaker 1: I cannot get over that collapse by the Saints. And
2:10
Speaker 1: maybe that says a lot about me as a person,
2:12
Speaker 1: And maybe that says something about me as AH in
2:15
Speaker 1: a psychotherapy situation where I look at that Super Bowl
2:20
Speaker 1: three and I'm like, yeah, Brady was great, but I
2:22
Speaker 1: also look at it as how did Dan Quinn, Matt Ryan,
2:24
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan, Grady Jarrett, in the entire Atlanta Falcons organizations
2:29
Speaker 1: sleep the next day? Last night, Aaron, the Saints gave
2:33
Speaker 1: that game away to the Buccaneers, and about thirty five
2:37
Speaker 1: different ways. I'm talking about everything from mark ingram running
2:40
Speaker 1: out of bounds and stopping the clock one yard short
2:43
Speaker 1: of a first down to put the game away. I'm
2:45
Speaker 1: talking about throwing the ball on third and one and
2:48
Speaker 1: then punting the ball on fourth and one, which made
2:50
Speaker 1: no sense. I'm talking about a six man defensive backfield
2:54
Speaker 1: that was a prevent defense for the last two drives
2:56
Speaker 1: that just basically let Brady just walk right up and
2:58
Speaker 1: down the field. Um. If I'm a Bucks fan, I
3:02
Speaker 1: am elated this morning. It's your six and six. You're
3:04
Speaker 1: in the thick of the playoff hunt, probably hosting a
3:06
Speaker 1: playoff game. Great. If I am a Saints fan, I
3:10
Speaker 1: am sick this morning. It's games like those that cost
3:12
Speaker 1: you playoff spots. It's games like those that that cost
3:15
Speaker 1: people jobs. Um, does that say more about me as
3:19
Speaker 1: a person? There? And deep cut here, I just watched
3:21
Speaker 1: the Jonah hill Um doc on Netflix with his psychologists
3:25
Speaker 1: or psychiatrist Phil Stuts, And it's all about, like, you know,
3:29
Speaker 1: introspection and look at what did say about me that
3:31
Speaker 1: I always look at the negative. And I'm like that
3:33
Speaker 1: the Bucks didn't when that game the Saints lost that game.
3:36
Speaker 1: I don't know, I mean, especially because I feel like
3:39
Speaker 1: everyone is so optimistic with the Bucks and Brady, like
3:43
Speaker 1: so much of the narrative has been, oh, they will
3:46
Speaker 1: pull it together. Brady is going to obviously make the playoffs.
3:50
Speaker 1: They're gonna, They're gonna, the offense is gonna work suddenly,
3:53
Speaker 1: you know, come January, and and maybe everyone else is
3:57
Speaker 1: being too positive about them. I don't know, watching them, like,
4:00
Speaker 1: I love Mike Evans, I love Chris Godwin, and it
4:03
Speaker 1: just seems like the offense isn't work. King, I think
4:07
Speaker 1: you're right. I think like it's not wrong to be
4:09
Speaker 1: too pessimistic about him. Yeah, and uh, I was really
4:12
Speaker 1: just asking you about to talk about me. Um, you
4:14
Speaker 1: missed the assignment there. I didn't need your Saints Bucks thoughts.
4:17
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. I love your Saints Bucks thoughts. You
4:19
Speaker 1: want to be four downs? Yeah, let's go. Let's go,
4:22
Speaker 1: all right, first down without Jimmy G are the forty
4:26
Speaker 1: Niner is done? What do you think is gonna happen? Now?
4:29
Speaker 1: I think the forty Niners are far from done, and
4:32
Speaker 1: I think it's multiple reasons why I still am quite
4:36
Speaker 1: optimistic about this forty Niners team. First off, there is
4:41
Speaker 1: no franchise more uniquely qualified to get through a major
4:46
Speaker 1: adversity as far as an injury goes than the forty Niners.
4:50
Speaker 1: And I'm not talking about just Trey Lance. This summer,
4:53
Speaker 1: which everyone was already penciling him in as a starter,
4:56
Speaker 1: he goes down and Jimmy G just fills right in.
4:58
Speaker 1: That one is like we knew, Jimmy G. I go
5:00
Speaker 1: back to now you know that in twenty nineteen they
5:04
Speaker 1: went to the Super Bowl. They were a Jimmy Garoppolo
5:05
Speaker 1: pass away from winning a Super Bowl. In one they
5:09
Speaker 1: went to the NFC Championship Game. They were a few
5:11
Speaker 1: plays away from going to the Super Bowl. Sandwich in
5:14
Speaker 1: between that was a crazy COVID season where they lost
5:18
Speaker 1: everyone to injury. Jimmy Garoppolo missed ten games, right He
5:22
Speaker 1: Mostard missed eight games, Deebo Samuel miss nine games, Kittle
5:27
Speaker 1: missed eight games, Trent Williams miss games of an elbow
5:30
Speaker 1: d Ford missed fifteen games of the back injury. Nick
5:33
Speaker 1: Bosa missed four team games with a knee injury. Richard
5:36
Speaker 1: Sherman missed eleven weeks is of the Week. The year
5:38
Speaker 1: after they went to Super Bowl, they didn't go to
5:40
Speaker 1: the playoffs that year. They want a lot of games though,
5:42
Speaker 1: and then to make matters worse in December of that
5:46
Speaker 1: season because of the California state laws or their county
5:49
Speaker 1: state laws because of COVID, they weren't allowed to play
5:54
Speaker 1: games in their home stadium and they weren't allowed to
5:56
Speaker 1: practice in their home stadium in the final month of
5:59
Speaker 1: the season, so they had to live in a Glendale,
6:03
Speaker 1: Arizona Renaissance hotel, play their home games in Arizona, be
6:09
Speaker 1: away from their families, have the tightest COVID, and they
6:13
Speaker 1: were winning games during that I think this forty Niners team,
6:16
Speaker 1: and most of those guys are still there, are are
6:19
Speaker 1: just one of one when it comes to like dealing
6:22
Speaker 1: with crap. When it comes to injuries. Jimmy's gone down
6:26
Speaker 1: multiple times for this team. He went down the first
6:28
Speaker 1: year he got there. He went down. They'll be okay
6:32
Speaker 1: and I think Kyle shannah and and John Lynch have
6:35
Speaker 1: been together through all of this, and it's one of
6:38
Speaker 1: those deals where it's like, all right, here's another adversity.
6:40
Speaker 1: Whereas other teams, I think they get that and it's
6:43
Speaker 1: a gut punch and it's like, all right, pack it in.
6:45
Speaker 1: If you notice, they didn't miss a beat when Brock
6:47
Speaker 1: Purtie came in Sunday against the Dolphins. In fact, their
6:50
Speaker 1: offense looked actually better, I thought with Purdie running the thing. Now, look,
6:53
Speaker 1: they're gonna miss Garoppolo's experience, They're gonna miss Garoppolos leadership.
6:57
Speaker 1: They're gonna miss Garoppolo as a better NFL player than
7:00
Speaker 1: Brock Purty. Objectively he is. If he wasn't, Brock Purty
7:02
Speaker 1: would have been starting this season, they would have been
7:04
Speaker 1: the number two coming into this season. Garoppolo is better.
7:07
Speaker 1: This is a major setback, but it doesn't mean it's
7:10
Speaker 1: their season. And I've been going through the annals of
7:13
Speaker 1: time with the NFL and looking for like good you know,
7:16
Speaker 1: I guess examples of this and it has to be
7:18
Speaker 1: very specific. It's a guy who was third string, who
7:21
Speaker 1: was a rookie who came in and the one that
7:24
Speaker 1: I got was Shaun King from Tulane goes back Aaron
7:28
Speaker 1: before your time as a fan. We know that the
7:33
Speaker 1: Rams won the greatest show on turf, But the Buccaneers
7:35
Speaker 1: that year were coached by Tony Dungee and they had
7:39
Speaker 1: warned Sap and Derrek Brooks and Ron day Barber and
7:42
Speaker 1: John Lynch and Donnie Abraham and they were loaded. They
7:46
Speaker 1: were loaded, and they had a really good backfield with
7:48
Speaker 1: work done and Mike Alstott and Trent Dilford was their quarterback.
7:52
Speaker 1: Dilford was up and down all season. He goes down
7:55
Speaker 1: with an injury. Eric Zire went down with an injury,
7:58
Speaker 1: and they go to Shaun King, who was a rookie
8:01
Speaker 1: at IT Tulane, and he won them games, and he
8:04
Speaker 1: won them a playoff game, and he got them right
8:06
Speaker 1: to the end of the NFC Championship game against the
8:09
Speaker 1: greatest show on turf and came just short. I look
8:12
Speaker 1: at Shaun King, a reference that is twenty three years old,
8:17
Speaker 1: and say, if Shaun King could do what he did
8:19
Speaker 1: for the Buccaneers in ninety nine, brock Purty can do
8:22
Speaker 1: the same for the forty niners. I am not out
8:24
Speaker 1: on the forty Niners. In fact, I think they're gonna
8:27
Speaker 1: be okay, and I still think they're gonna win their division. Awesome. Alright,
8:30
Speaker 1: second down, what do you make of the Vikings who
8:33
Speaker 1: are now ten and two with a big win over
8:36
Speaker 1: the Jets, big win over the Jets. And yet I
8:39
Speaker 1: look at the the odds and I look at the
8:42
Speaker 1: spreads this weekend. Then I'm not a big gambler. In fact,
8:46
Speaker 1: I don't gamble, but I look at the stuff out
8:48
Speaker 1: of just curiosity and I like to know where where
8:51
Speaker 1: people are putting their heads at. The Detroit Lions are
8:55
Speaker 1: favored at five and seven over the ten and two
8:58
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings this weekend when they play. So what is
9:01
Speaker 1: going on here? I I don't I don't hate it.
9:04
Speaker 1: I think it's it's actually fair. They have nine one
9:08
Speaker 1: score game wins, meaning they've won nine different games by
9:12
Speaker 1: seven points or less. They win against the Jets wasn't
9:15
Speaker 1: convincing to me because they were up big and they
9:17
Speaker 1: let the Jets come all the way back and it
9:19
Speaker 1: took a miraculous, you know, red zone stop at the
9:23
Speaker 1: end to win by five in a game that they
9:24
Speaker 1: were up by seventeen. This isn't the first time they've
9:26
Speaker 1: done that. I'm gonna go through the list. But week
9:28
Speaker 1: four they let the Saints back in the game. Week five,
9:31
Speaker 1: they let the Bears come back into the game. Week six,
9:34
Speaker 1: they let the Dolphins back into the game. In Week eight,
9:36
Speaker 1: they let the Cardinals back into the game. They win
9:37
Speaker 1: all these games, but they do so only by letting
9:41
Speaker 1: the team come all the way back and they have
9:42
Speaker 1: to fight it out at the very last seconds. Let's
9:44
Speaker 1: go through them. Week four, they were up by six
9:47
Speaker 1: and a half and they win five against the Saints
9:50
Speaker 1: team that probably didn't belong on the same field that
9:52
Speaker 1: they they against. The Bears were up twenty one to
9:55
Speaker 1: three and ended up having to squeak one out after
9:57
Speaker 1: the Bears went nineteen zero on a run and they
10:01
Speaker 1: had to just squeak it out at the end to
10:03
Speaker 1: win Dolphins game. They're up ten three going into the fourth.
10:06
Speaker 1: They're sixteen to three with fourteen minutes left against the
10:09
Speaker 1: Dolphins third string quarterback Skyler Thompson, and of course the
10:13
Speaker 1: Dolphins come all the way back and they have to
10:15
Speaker 1: hang on and get an interception at the end and
10:18
Speaker 1: uh and win twenty four to sixteen. Cardinals. They're up
10:21
Speaker 1: fourteen tenant to half. Cardinals come racing back. They have
10:24
Speaker 1: to you know, pull them out of their out of
10:26
Speaker 1: their back pocket at the end. And then the sting
10:27
Speaker 1: of the Jets there. Of course, they're winning the whole
10:31
Speaker 1: game and the Jets you know, all the way back
10:33
Speaker 1: and they have to have an interception at the end.
10:35
Speaker 1: That's not convincing to me. And yet the counter to that,
10:38
Speaker 1: Aaron is their tenant to shut up. A win is
10:41
Speaker 1: a win. No one cares about that, and those wins
10:44
Speaker 1: are going to help them down the stretch. I don't
10:46
Speaker 1: see it that way. I think this Vikings team there's
10:49
Speaker 1: something up when they have to let every team back
10:51
Speaker 1: into the game and they've got to just survive by
10:53
Speaker 1: the skin of their teeth. I understand, uh why the
10:56
Speaker 1: Lions are favored, and I'm sorry, I just I can't
10:58
Speaker 1: be all in on the tenant two Vikings. I think
11:00
Speaker 1: the Eagles and the Cowboys are playing better football. Okay,
11:03
Speaker 1: third down? Can the Raiders on the backs of Josh
11:06
Speaker 1: Acomes and Davante Adams, can they make a run here?
11:08
Speaker 1: Can they make a playoff push? It's fun, isn't it?
11:11
Speaker 1: The Raiders for two and seven less than a month ago,
11:13
Speaker 1: and people were calling for Josh mcdaniels's head. They've won
11:16
Speaker 1: three in a row in dramatic fashion. They're five and
11:19
Speaker 1: seven right now, the Las Vegas Raiders, and Josh Jacobs
11:23
Speaker 1: is playing better than any running back in football, uh
11:25
Speaker 1: Davante Adams justin Jefferson Tyree Hill included, is playing better
11:29
Speaker 1: than any wide receiver in football. Derek Carr is playing well,
11:31
Speaker 1: Max Crosby is getting to the quarterback, and they're winning
11:34
Speaker 1: games five and seven right now. The remaining schedule a
11:39
Speaker 1: Thursday night game at the Rams. They will win that game.
11:43
Speaker 1: A Sunday game against the Patriots that has now been
11:47
Speaker 1: flexed out of Sunday night into a late window. The
11:49
Speaker 1: Patriots have lost two straight and they seem to be
11:51
Speaker 1: on fumes right now. A Christmas Eve game on the
11:54
Speaker 1: fifty year anniversary of the Immaculate Reception at Pittsburgh. I
11:59
Speaker 1: know Pittsburgh's won a couple of games in a row here,
12:01
Speaker 1: but if the Raiders are now rolling in five straight
12:04
Speaker 1: wins going into Pittsburgh, I'd like to think they've got
12:07
Speaker 1: a pretty good shot and are gonna be feeling themselves
12:10
Speaker 1: a new Year's Day game against the forty Niners in Vegas,
12:13
Speaker 1: with the forty Niners now suddenly with Brock Purty at quarterback,
12:17
Speaker 1: and may have already clinched their division. And they end
12:20
Speaker 1: the season at home against the Chiefs. And I'm assuming
12:24
Speaker 1: the Chiefs have already locked up the division. The Chiefs
12:27
Speaker 1: might know where they're playing in the playoffs. They might
12:30
Speaker 1: have locked up the one seed based on things how
12:31
Speaker 1: things go. Even if that's not the case, the Chiefs
12:34
Speaker 1: will have locked up a playoff Berth and the Raiders
12:36
Speaker 1: were playing for everything. I think the Raiders can run
12:39
Speaker 1: the table here at Rams home against the Patriots, at
12:43
Speaker 1: Steelers home against the Niners, home against the Chiefs. If
12:48
Speaker 1: the Raiders run the table, they go from five and
12:50
Speaker 1: seven to six and seven, seven and seven, eight and seven,
12:53
Speaker 1: nine and seven, finish the season ten and seven their
12:56
Speaker 1: playoff team if they go ten and seven. Alright, fourth down?
12:59
Speaker 1: Who do you want to shout out this week? This
13:01
Speaker 1: is a sentimental one. One of our favorite guys that
13:03
Speaker 1: comes on the show on Good Morning Football is Cameron Heyward.
13:06
Speaker 1: He is a wonderful young man. He's a great player.
13:09
Speaker 1: He's also one of the fiercest defensive aligneman in the sport.
13:13
Speaker 1: He and I have had a long relationship based on
13:16
Speaker 1: his appearances on our show, but last year I specifically
13:19
Speaker 1: remember they were going up against the Bills, and for
13:21
Speaker 1: the first three days on the show Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
13:24
Speaker 1: I'm like, the Bills are gonna beat them. The Bills
13:26
Speaker 1: are gonna beat them. The Steelers have no shot. Cameron
13:28
Speaker 1: Aywards our guest on a Thursday, and Cameron Ayward comes
13:31
Speaker 1: on and he's like, Sugar, you're gonna eat your words.
13:33
Speaker 1: You're gonna eat your words. We're not losing the Bills.
13:35
Speaker 1: Just watch the Bills beat them. And I felt pretty
13:38
Speaker 1: proud about that. We fast forward to the draft. There's
13:41
Speaker 1: Cameron Heyward at a draft event by the NFL where
13:44
Speaker 1: I was invited to. I walk in. I believe Roger
13:48
Speaker 1: Goodell was there, Mark Sanchez, I remember being there, Uh,
13:51
Speaker 1: Andrew Whitworth there. I walk in and there's Cameron Hayward
13:55
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, here, I do I gotta go,
13:57
Speaker 1: and you know, face up this guy. I'mna have one
13:59
Speaker 1: of these moments where he's gonna stare me down, the
14:01
Speaker 1: biggest hug, the greatest laughs. And we talked for about
14:04
Speaker 1: a half hour, and his whole thing was, I want
14:06
Speaker 1: to get into media. I want to have an opportunity
14:08
Speaker 1: to do what you do. And this thing is done,
14:10
Speaker 1: and we talked about it, the importance of going to
14:12
Speaker 1: the broadcast book Cavin. He also talked about his little brother.
14:15
Speaker 1: He had a little brother who was an h back,
14:17
Speaker 1: tight end running back type out of Michigan State and
14:20
Speaker 1: was trying to get drafted. And you know he's asking me,
14:23
Speaker 1: it's the day before the draft. I don't think it's
14:24
Speaker 1: a first round pick. I'm not sure he's the second
14:26
Speaker 1: round pick. But you know there's a shot. Well, his brother,
14:29
Speaker 1: Connor went in the sixth round and he was drafted
14:31
Speaker 1: by guess who, the Pittsburgh Steelers. So the two of
14:35
Speaker 1: these guys have been playing together all season long, Connor
14:38
Speaker 1: fighting for a spot on the active roster. You know
14:41
Speaker 1: Cam obviously the team captain and the Walter Payton Man
14:43
Speaker 1: of the Year nominee and an all time guy. Will
14:45
Speaker 1: they go down and they play the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday,
14:48
Speaker 1: And here's the story everyone might not know. Um, their
14:51
Speaker 1: father is Craig Ironhead Hayward, of course, a great New
14:55
Speaker 1: Orleans saint and a great Atlanta falcon who was tragically
14:59
Speaker 1: taken from us. Uh, you know, shortly thereafter his playing career.
15:03
Speaker 1: So when not everybody knows is that the morning the
15:06
Speaker 1: game before kickoff, they're in Atlanta, obviously, and Cameron Hayward
15:12
Speaker 1: and his brother Connor went to the grave site of
15:16
Speaker 1: their father and they visited the grave site and then
15:19
Speaker 1: they go out and they play this game and Cam
15:22
Speaker 1: Hayward's all over the field and guess who scores his
15:24
Speaker 1: first NFL touchdown? Connor Hayward scores a touchdown, beautiful one
15:29
Speaker 1: in the back of the end zone. And after the game,
15:31
Speaker 1: Cameron Hayward was full of tears, was incredible, and he
15:35
Speaker 1: was wearing his father's falcon's jersey at the number thirty four,
15:39
Speaker 1: the Craig Ironhead Hayward. I believe we have a clip
15:42
Speaker 1: of his press conference after the game. Take a listen.
15:44
Speaker 1: Uh if I could share a story like this morning,
15:47
Speaker 1: me and him went to my dad's grave and you know,
15:49
Speaker 1: we got to share a moment there. Um and so
15:53
Speaker 1: I was pretty emotional when uh, you know, he got
15:56
Speaker 1: the touchdown. Uh. I don't like to be Mr SAPPI,
16:01
Speaker 1: but like that that like really hit me. Luckily there
16:04
Speaker 1: wasn't a camera on me because I was a mess.
16:07
Speaker 1: I love Cameron Heyward. He's an awesome guy. He's gonna
16:09
Speaker 1: be great in media when he's done with his thing.
16:11
Speaker 1: And he's still one of the top players. And as
16:13
Speaker 1: of today, he was nominated for the Walter Payton Man
16:15
Speaker 1: of the Year Award. I really hope he wins it.
16:17
Speaker 1: He's incredible in the community. I don't know his little
16:19
Speaker 1: brother Connor, but I love that he scored a touchdown
16:22
Speaker 1: and I love that story. Those are my guys who
16:24
Speaker 1: get a shout out on fourth down? Aaron, what about you? Alright?
16:27
Speaker 1: So my fourth down shout out this week is for
16:31
Speaker 1: Mr Irrelevant himself. Brock Purty did a little bit of
16:34
Speaker 1: deep diving into him. I mean, I'm not I will
16:38
Speaker 1: admit I'm not the biggest Iowa State fans, so I didn't.
16:40
Speaker 1: I didn't know a ton about him before this weekend
16:43
Speaker 1: and lighten us make us smarter. So so, Brock Purty
16:46
Speaker 1: is born in Queen Creek, Arizona. His father, Sean, was
16:51
Speaker 1: a huge Dolphins fan, and in fact, the day that
16:54
Speaker 1: Brock was born, that night his dad had him on
16:57
Speaker 1: his lap watching a Dolphins. That's hilarious, and they just
17:00
Speaker 1: beat the Dolphins. Keep going, comes, this is why you're here.
17:04
Speaker 1: Come on. His dad's favorite player it was Marino, and
17:07
Speaker 1: so of course Brock falls along with his dad. He's
17:10
Speaker 1: a big Marino fan. But then he also grew up
17:13
Speaker 1: really idolizing Tim Tebow. So he plays high school at
17:17
Speaker 1: Perry High School. Um, he's he's there. His sophomore year,
17:20
Speaker 1: he's split in time at quarterback. He has an okay season,
17:23
Speaker 1: but then he gets motto and he misses the mono nucleosis.
17:27
Speaker 1: Mono nucleosis. Uh misses the entire summer. Yeah, um, this
17:34
Speaker 1: is the whole summer. Uh. And like the first three
17:36
Speaker 1: games of his junior year, he loses I think it
17:39
Speaker 1: was like twenty five pounds, which, like for a junior
17:42
Speaker 1: in high school, is a lot of um. But he's
17:45
Speaker 1: determined to get his career back going. He's not getting
17:48
Speaker 1: any attention from the big schools, so he works with
17:51
Speaker 1: local quarterbacks coach Steve Axeman, who famously also worked with
17:57
Speaker 1: Troy Aikman. Okay, um, I mean, I'm sure you knew
18:02
Speaker 1: all about the accident going. Um. So then Brock goes
18:09
Speaker 1: on to throw for over three thousand yards. He gets
18:13
Speaker 1: He's named Gatorades Football Player of the Year, State foot
18:16
Speaker 1: Player like Nation Like. That's huge. He's the Arizona Republic's
18:21
Speaker 1: high School Football Player in the Year All Arizona QB.
18:24
Speaker 1: He gets all these awards, but big college is still
18:27
Speaker 1: not really showing him any interest, and he gets offers
18:31
Speaker 1: from like U n LV, Northern Arizona, New Mexico State,
18:34
Speaker 1: but none of the big schools that he's looking for.
18:37
Speaker 1: So he goes into senior year, playing throughout the season
18:40
Speaker 1: not getting the attention. He leads the Pumas, which is
18:44
Speaker 1: their mascot, to their first state football final. It's December.
18:50
Speaker 1: He finally gets a walk on opportunity with Alabama, which
18:53
Speaker 1: is a huge deal. Can walk on, walk on. It's
18:56
Speaker 1: not a scholarship, it's not an offer, it's a walk
18:59
Speaker 1: on opportunity. Um. He then also gets a little interest
19:03
Speaker 1: from Kansas, and then later in December he gets Kansas
19:07
Speaker 1: gives him a full offer or an actual offer, and
19:10
Speaker 1: Boise State offers him a scholarship. He keeps saying I'm
19:14
Speaker 1: gonna wait, I'm gonna wait till the signing days and
19:16
Speaker 1: make some decisions. Then in January, UCF offers him. Brock
19:21
Speaker 1: goes to visit Boise State, and then Alabama starts pushing
19:25
Speaker 1: and the Alabama assistant coach comes to visit him, and
19:28
Speaker 1: he says, Saban won't let me make an offer yet,
19:31
Speaker 1: I have to go call him and get back to you.
19:34
Speaker 1: Then the next day, the assistant coaches flight is canceled.
19:37
Speaker 1: He can't get out, and he calls Saban and Saban
19:40
Speaker 1: gives him the okay to offer Brock a full scholarship.
19:43
Speaker 1: So he went from a walk on opportunity to full scholarship.
19:46
Speaker 1: Done go to Alabama? What are do? And you're gonna
19:48
Speaker 1: put Tua and Matt Jones and Jalen Hurts go instead.
19:51
Speaker 1: He also gets an offer from Iowa State and Arizona State,
19:55
Speaker 1: U C, l A, Texas A, and m He's and
19:59
Speaker 1: one thing I really loved like when he did make
20:01
Speaker 1: his announcement, his his dad pointed out that, like Brock,
20:06
Speaker 1: he pushed the date of his announcement because there were
20:09
Speaker 1: other players who were announcing where they were going that day,
20:12
Speaker 1: and Brock didn't want to take the spotlight from them.
20:14
Speaker 1: He didn't want to be front and center like this
20:17
Speaker 1: at his announcement. It was a bunch of people at
20:19
Speaker 1: the table with him. He was the only one with him, Mike,
20:21
Speaker 1: and he was uncomfortable about that, which is like a
20:24
Speaker 1: nice little personality. So he goes to Iowa State because
20:29
Speaker 1: like when he went there, they went to a basketball game.
20:32
Speaker 1: The student body is all chanting, I've been It's fun.
20:37
Speaker 1: So he goes. He's the third string quarterback. He's wearing
20:40
Speaker 1: number fifteen, Tebow's number. And in the freshman year, um
20:45
Speaker 1: he's behind Kyle Kempt and zeb Noland. Kempt gets injured
20:50
Speaker 1: and Nolan gets benched and Purdy is starting as a freshman.
20:53
Speaker 1: There he went. He played four years with Iowa State,
20:55
Speaker 1: three of those years with Breece haw Jets running back.
20:59
Speaker 1: And you know he finished his career as the winning
21:01
Speaker 1: ist QB and I started Division one. Yeah, he won
21:06
Speaker 1: games he started. That's incredible. And he's the program's leader
21:10
Speaker 1: in passing yards, touchdown passes, completions, completion percentage and like
21:15
Speaker 1: he's one of only six players in Big twelve history
21:19
Speaker 1: with ten thousand passing yards and a thousand rushing yards.
21:22
Speaker 1: Other people on that list, they're Sam Ellinger, Baker Mayfield,
21:26
Speaker 1: r G three, Colt McCoy um, and then this year
21:30
Speaker 1: he gets drafted with the last pick by the Niners.
21:33
Speaker 1: And there have been seven other quarterbacks who have been
21:35
Speaker 1: drafted as Mr. Irrelevant, most recently Chad Kelly. But Brock
21:40
Speaker 1: is the first one to throw a touchdown pass in
21:42
Speaker 1: the NFL and he's doing it wearing number thirteen Day
21:45
Speaker 1: Marina's number. And the first game that he wins, it's
21:49
Speaker 1: against the Dolphins, and against two was the quarterback in
21:52
Speaker 1: Alabama when he was probably being recruited. I love that,
21:56
Speaker 1: Aaron great job. I honestly didn't know a lot of that.
21:59
Speaker 1: I'll add um one thing, and it's a small little nugget.
22:01
Speaker 1: We showed the draft video on Good Morning Football Today
22:05
Speaker 1: Tuesday of when Brock pretty was drafted. He was selected
22:08
Speaker 1: as the very last pick of the seventh round. His
22:10
Speaker 1: family is jumping up and down. He's excited, they're hugging
22:14
Speaker 1: each other. I think that Mr. Irrelevant thing. A lot
22:17
Speaker 1: of players are insulted by it. They don't want to
22:19
Speaker 1: be Mr. Irelevant. It means that you know, Twitter and
22:21
Speaker 1: fifty five other people were taking before you. It reminds you, hell,
22:26
Speaker 1: I was just drafted by an NFL team. My dream
22:29
Speaker 1: has been realized. If I do nothing else, I was
22:31
Speaker 1: drafted by an NFL team. But it sounds like that
22:34
Speaker 1: was just to start for brock party story. But thank
22:36
Speaker 1: you for all those beginning chapters. Really good job are
22:38
Speaker 1: thank you. Yeah. I'm excited to see what he does
22:40
Speaker 1: this weekend. Yeah. Um, and now it's for our time
22:43
Speaker 1: for our guest. I am so pumped to bring this
22:46
Speaker 1: guy on. I don't think he does a ton of media,
22:48
Speaker 1: and I think when he gets on the microphone, you're
22:49
Speaker 1: gonna see what he might be the next head coach
22:51
Speaker 1: of your NFL team. It's one of most successful offensive
22:54
Speaker 1: coordinators in football over the last two years. He's young,
22:57
Speaker 1: he's thirty eight. He's the man. Let's get Bengals offensive
23:01
Speaker 1: coordinator Brian Calahan on the horn. I'm beyond excited to
23:08
Speaker 1: introduce our next guest to the season with Peter Schrager. Uh.
23:12
Speaker 1: He's the offensive coordinator of the reigning a f C
23:14
Speaker 1: champion Cincinnati Bengals. He's one of the great young offensive
23:19
Speaker 1: minds in football, and he's also a hell of a
23:21
Speaker 1: mentor and teacher. Took both quarterbacks and skill position players
23:25
Speaker 1: and offensive linemen alike, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome in
23:28
Speaker 1: Brian Callahan from the Cincinnati Bengals. Awesome, good to be here.
23:31
Speaker 1: Appreciate it, dude, I love having you on. Uh, this
23:34
Speaker 1: is great. And as we're recording this where two days
23:37
Speaker 1: removed from what was hyped as the rematch of all
23:40
Speaker 1: rematches and really played out as the heck of a game.
23:43
Speaker 1: And I came away from it thinking this Bengals team,
23:46
Speaker 1: they don't waiver, they don't quiver, and that quarterback is something.
23:49
Speaker 1: What was your takeaway? And now that we're forty eight
23:51
Speaker 1: hours removed from the big win against the Chiefs on Sunday,
23:54
Speaker 1: the same things. You know. It really was excellent performance
23:58
Speaker 1: by Joe probably playing the quarterback position as good as
24:00
Speaker 1: anybody in football right now. Uh, we go as he goes,
24:04
Speaker 1: and his ability to stay calming him amen um and
24:07
Speaker 1: make clutch plays when when clutch players are required are
24:10
Speaker 1: are one of his great strengths. And so you get
24:12
Speaker 1: a chance to play that team at home. Uh, you know,
24:15
Speaker 1: nine and nine and three football team and are probably
24:18
Speaker 1: arguing me the best team in the a f C.
24:19
Speaker 1: And I thought we answered the bell and showed that
24:21
Speaker 1: we're for real, and we're contenders in the in the
24:23
Speaker 1: a f C and hopefully for the for the whole,
24:26
Speaker 1: for the whole thing. You're awesome. We're gonna get into
24:28
Speaker 1: your whole story and what you're all about. But you
24:30
Speaker 1: mentioned Joe, you know, Joe Burrow to act said yesterday
24:33
Speaker 1: on the show, I'm like, he's so dialed in. It
24:36
Speaker 1: almost seems like he's unflappable at points. I think he's
24:38
Speaker 1: like almost a robot or an alien, and that he
24:41
Speaker 1: doesn't seem to go up or down. He's just so
24:44
Speaker 1: laser focus. What's it like prepping for games with Joe
24:47
Speaker 1: Burrow and then when the bullets are flying in the
24:50
Speaker 1: actual moments within the sixty minutes, what's it like being
24:52
Speaker 1: able to coach him and really be in his ear. Yeah,
24:55
Speaker 1: it's a lot of fun getting ready for games because
24:57
Speaker 1: he's he's he is super dialed in. I mean during
24:59
Speaker 1: the week, it's he's got a laser focus all the time.
25:02
Speaker 1: How you see him on game days is really how
25:04
Speaker 1: he is in the meeting room on the practice feel
25:07
Speaker 1: his ability to focus and compartmentalize and get ready for
25:10
Speaker 1: a game is maybe one of the best I've been around,
25:13
Speaker 1: and I've been around some good ones, and UM, you
25:16
Speaker 1: know that that type of intensity is is fun to
25:18
Speaker 1: be around. It might not be for everybody, um, but
25:21
Speaker 1: that's that's what makes him great. And and he's he's
25:24
Speaker 1: growing and learning and becoming a more mature quarterback kind
25:27
Speaker 1: of every week that goes on. And it's been really
25:29
Speaker 1: fun to see his growth from the start to the finish.
25:31
Speaker 1: Now we're we're you know we're at right now from
25:33
Speaker 1: when we drafted him. So, UM, you know it's intense
25:36
Speaker 1: and that's the way you wanted to be when you're
25:37
Speaker 1: starting quarterbacks like that. We love stories here on the pod.
25:41
Speaker 1: And I remember when you guys had that first overall pick.
25:45
Speaker 1: Zack and I were talking and there was Herbert and
25:47
Speaker 1: there was two uh. And now that it's two and
25:50
Speaker 1: a half years removed, I can tell you at the
25:52
Speaker 1: combine in February or March, he's like Burrows the dude,
25:56
Speaker 1: and and he wasn't giving me away any government secrets.
25:58
Speaker 1: You guys had the number one pick and he's like, bro,
26:01
Speaker 1: and the conviction that he had back then, and that
26:04
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor the head coach, he's like, it's just give
26:07
Speaker 1: me your best Joe Burrow, either scouting or pre draft interaction,
26:12
Speaker 1: either looking at my LSU like, when did you guys
26:15
Speaker 1: know in that building that as much as we love
26:17
Speaker 1: these other guys and they might go on to be
26:18
Speaker 1: bigger and better than Burrow someday, some far time away. Um,
26:22
Speaker 1: that you knew Burrow with the guy for the Cincinnati Bengals. Uh,
26:25
Speaker 1: we just we saw the I mean I knew when
26:27
Speaker 1: I watched him play in the college playoff. Um, And
26:30
Speaker 1: we were obviously getting close to picking at number one,
26:32
Speaker 1: and once we had cemented that pick, after watching those games,
26:36
Speaker 1: you come away with the guy that You're like, Wow,
26:37
Speaker 1: this guy unflappable, great creator. Um, you could tell the
26:43
Speaker 1: guys that LS you respected him. What an incredible journey
26:46
Speaker 1: from going to Ohio State and then being able to
26:48
Speaker 1: win over the l s U locker room in a
26:50
Speaker 1: really short amount of time. And that's what we needed
26:52
Speaker 1: here in Cincinnati. We needed a player that had that ability.
26:55
Speaker 1: And after watching that, I was pretty much sold. Obviously,
26:58
Speaker 1: we did our homework, we evaluated everybody, but that was
27:00
Speaker 1: the moment where I was like, I think this is
27:02
Speaker 1: the guy for us. And the best part was when
27:05
Speaker 1: we you know, that was COVID year, so we had
27:07
Speaker 1: all kinds of restrictions and hadn't really got a chance
27:10
Speaker 1: to see him. He didn't have a pro day, um,
27:12
Speaker 1: and so everything was virtual. So the first time we
27:14
Speaker 1: got to see him in person was at the combine
27:17
Speaker 1: for our short you know, our short top top fifty
27:19
Speaker 1: meetings that we get there, um, and he was very
27:24
Speaker 1: much himself. He had no nerves, He kind of knew
27:26
Speaker 1: what was coming, and we all walked out of that meeting.
27:29
Speaker 1: I think everybody in that room thinking that's what it's
27:32
Speaker 1: supposed to look like. You know, that's that's the guy.
27:35
Speaker 1: So it's a good feeling when that happens. Now, take
27:38
Speaker 1: us through last year's playoff run, Um, what you learned
27:41
Speaker 1: about him there, and what's your best story from Burrow
27:43
Speaker 1: either in the Tennessee game or you know, the following
27:47
Speaker 1: week where you guys have another victory, and then of
27:50
Speaker 1: course in the a f C Championship game when you
27:52
Speaker 1: play against the Chiefs. Yeah, I think the n f
27:54
Speaker 1: C Championship game was was awesome. It was uh, you know,
27:58
Speaker 1: having to come back from that deficit, you know, we
28:00
Speaker 1: had to come back for him, just to see him
28:03
Speaker 1: on the sidelines he just you knew as soon as
28:05
Speaker 1: he walked on a few we had a shot. And
28:08
Speaker 1: everything that he did in that game was incredibly impressive.
28:12
Speaker 1: The plays that he created. You know, he slipped out
28:14
Speaker 1: of two of Chris Jones probably sure sacks Um. But
28:18
Speaker 1: my favorite story was really from the first Kansas City
28:20
Speaker 1: game when we played him here at home to when
28:22
Speaker 1: they have seen the anf C North and he came
28:24
Speaker 1: to the sidelines and we threw we threw a pressure
28:27
Speaker 1: out to the left side to to um teller Boyd,
28:30
Speaker 1: and he knew as soon as he came back to
28:33
Speaker 1: the sideline he said, Hey, Jamar, next time I throw this,
28:36
Speaker 1: just be ready down the sideline and say he's not
28:37
Speaker 1: getting enough with We're not gonna They're not gonna be
28:39
Speaker 1: able to cover you. And so we come back to
28:41
Speaker 1: that play probably a series or two later, and he
28:43
Speaker 1: throws it right down the right down the sideline. The
28:45
Speaker 1: Jamar for for you know, probably touched down so in
28:49
Speaker 1: real time that hey, if I'm doing this, Boyd play,
28:51
Speaker 1: I see Jamar in the corner of my eye like
28:53
Speaker 1: that's going to be open. Yeah, And he came to
28:55
Speaker 1: the sideline told Jamar, told us to call it again
28:57
Speaker 1: and we did and he and he answered it with
29:00
Speaker 1: a with a huge touchdown. So, um, things like that
29:03
Speaker 1: happened with him every game where he sees, he sees
29:06
Speaker 1: things happening. He's got incredible vision and understanding of what
29:09
Speaker 1: defenses are trying to do, whether it located on the field. Um,
29:12
Speaker 1: and he's got great feedback and he knows exactly how
29:14
Speaker 1: I wants to attack a team, especially as the game unfolds,
29:16
Speaker 1: and um, you know he's he said even this week
29:20
Speaker 1: and ready for the Chiefs that you know they're there,
29:22
Speaker 1: they're rush lanes. We're going to leave him some opportunities
29:25
Speaker 1: to create some plays, and he saw him he rushed
29:27
Speaker 1: for ten times for forty or fifty yards and some
29:31
Speaker 1: some big play. So he just got a great feel
29:33
Speaker 1: for the game and what he were what he can
29:35
Speaker 1: do to win a games. Has been his most impressive
29:38
Speaker 1: impressive trade so far, and the big moments he never
29:40
Speaker 1: shots away from him. Your offense is cool because you've
29:44
Speaker 1: got obviously Burrow, the superstar, but we also have these
29:47
Speaker 1: wide receivers and then of course the offensive line, the
29:49
Speaker 1: big boys up front. But I thought this week was interesting,
29:52
Speaker 1: you know, players in the Chiefs were chirping a little bit.
29:54
Speaker 1: You guys were chirping back, and then the game starts
29:56
Speaker 1: on Sunday and it's like this was a war and
29:59
Speaker 1: that offense galvanized around each other. You guys were trailing.
30:02
Speaker 1: He came back, tell us about this the identity and
30:05
Speaker 1: maybe the culture and that locker room, especially from your
30:07
Speaker 1: side of the ball, the offensive guys. Yeah, I think
30:10
Speaker 1: we have a really tough minded team. You know, they
30:13
Speaker 1: don't get to they don't get too up or down.
30:14
Speaker 1: They're really consistent with their day to day preparation during
30:17
Speaker 1: the week, which I think makes makes for a really
30:20
Speaker 1: even keel team on game day. They know what to expect,
30:22
Speaker 1: they know how the game's gonna unfold. I think they
30:25
Speaker 1: do a great job of understanding how we're trying to
30:28
Speaker 1: attack a team. But I think what really showed up
30:31
Speaker 1: with the last two weeks against the Titans and the
30:32
Speaker 1: Chiefs is I think we're a tough team, you know,
30:35
Speaker 1: I think are I think we're willing to get down
30:37
Speaker 1: and dirty with teams, and we can be physical upfront,
30:40
Speaker 1: we can move the line of scrimmage, and our backs
30:42
Speaker 1: run really hard. Um, they run really physical, and when
30:45
Speaker 1: it was kind of you know where we get plumped
30:47
Speaker 1: into that finesse uh label sometimes, but we're not a
30:50
Speaker 1: finesse team. And I think that that's been fun for
30:53
Speaker 1: us to discover this year is that we're we could be,
30:55
Speaker 1: We could be as tough as required in the run game.
30:58
Speaker 1: And those guys in front of really come along done
31:00
Speaker 1: a nice job. But um, I love I love what
31:02
Speaker 1: our guys are about. I love the way they play football. Yeah,
31:04
Speaker 1: and they're deep, like mixing as I've touchdowns less than
31:07
Speaker 1: a month ago and then now it's samaj p Ryan
31:09
Speaker 1: back to back weeks with mixing and the concussion protocol
31:11
Speaker 1: stepping up. I love that part of it. Before we
31:14
Speaker 1: shift gears. Burrow his style, these these suits that I
31:17
Speaker 1: couldn't pull off. You and Zack are two of the
31:20
Speaker 1: most Yeah, you and Zach Taylor two of the most
31:22
Speaker 1: humble guys. I think of Coach luin a rumo like
31:24
Speaker 1: you guys are in you know, extra extra large sweatshirts
31:27
Speaker 1: with beards, and then you've got Joe Burrow and like
31:30
Speaker 1: a leopard costume. Um what what do you guys joke
31:32
Speaker 1: about it? Or is it just hey, you let Joe
31:34
Speaker 1: b Joe and you don't even have that. You don't
31:36
Speaker 1: even take the this out of it. I don't. I mean,
31:38
Speaker 1: there's not much we're gonna say to him it's going
31:39
Speaker 1: to change his mind. I think that's what's that's what's
31:42
Speaker 1: great about Joe is he's unabashedly himself and he doesn't
31:45
Speaker 1: really care really what anybody else thinks. Um. And you
31:48
Speaker 1: know he always says all the time he doesn't have
31:51
Speaker 1: fashion stense. He just think he likes things that, uh,
31:53
Speaker 1: he feels are cool, and he just wears him and
31:55
Speaker 1: for some reason he makes it work. I could never
31:57
Speaker 1: pull off anything. Um, but that's what makes you pretty special.
32:01
Speaker 1: That's what's what's fun about him is he's he is
32:05
Speaker 1: himself all the time. He doesn't try to be anybody else. Um,
32:08
Speaker 1: and he just kind of wears things that catch his
32:10
Speaker 1: eye and some for some reason, everybody else seems to
32:12
Speaker 1: think it's cool. So uh yeah, he gets a little
32:15
Speaker 1: ribbing every now and again, but um, you know that's
32:17
Speaker 1: that's part of it when you wear outlandish outfits. And
32:20
Speaker 1: but he makes it works. Gonna say, as long as
32:22
Speaker 1: you're winning in the end, you can smoke those cigars,
32:24
Speaker 1: you know, like it works. Uh, your story is cool
32:28
Speaker 1: to me. So you grew up in a football family.
32:30
Speaker 1: Your father is legendary coach Bill Callahan. Um, you go
32:35
Speaker 1: through high school, you go to U c l A.
32:37
Speaker 1: You have to make a decision, what do I want
32:39
Speaker 1: to do with my life, Brian Callahan, you decide I
32:42
Speaker 1: want to go and follow my father's footsteps. Take us
32:44
Speaker 1: through those first decisions to go into the line of coaching,
32:47
Speaker 1: knowing just just how unique of profession that could be. Yeah,
32:52
Speaker 1: it was. Actually I was. I was finishing up playing.
32:55
Speaker 1: I was not a very good I was not a
32:57
Speaker 1: high end football player, which is you know, most of
33:00
Speaker 1: us that go into coaching usually can't play very well,
33:02
Speaker 1: so we try to go coach. But I enjoy void football,
33:07
Speaker 1: enjoy being around it, and I wanted to continue. And
33:09
Speaker 1: I've initially thought I would go into like athletic director,
33:13
Speaker 1: that kind of route in college and still be around
33:15
Speaker 1: the game. But I also knew what coaching was like,
33:18
Speaker 1: I knew what what it brought. I had no misconceptions
33:22
Speaker 1: about how the career can go, and it can be
33:24
Speaker 1: really really fun, it can be really really hard all
33:26
Speaker 1: at the same time. So I was like, all right, well,
33:29
Speaker 1: maybe I won't do coaching. Maybe I'll find something else.
33:31
Speaker 1: And then as I was getting ready to graduate, UM,
33:34
Speaker 1: Carl Darell, our head coach at the time at U
33:35
Speaker 1: c l A. It said that, you know, we have
33:37
Speaker 1: a graduate assistant opening here, UM, if you'd be interested.
33:40
Speaker 1: And I was like, well, yeah, what the hell I mean,
33:43
Speaker 1: I'm gonna Yeah, I'll get my graduate degree and uh
33:48
Speaker 1: and see if I like coaching. And really, once I
33:51
Speaker 1: made that decision that the rest of his history. I
33:54
Speaker 1: I got bit by the bug. And I love coaching.
33:56
Speaker 1: I love being a part of it. And I told
33:58
Speaker 1: my dad that I wanted to get into it, and
33:59
Speaker 1: he said, UM, well, if he goes, you know what
34:02
Speaker 1: you're getting into, and if you want to do it,
34:05
Speaker 1: I'll dothing I can to help him. Um, but you
34:08
Speaker 1: just you know, you understand what you're getting into, right,
34:10
Speaker 1: And I said, yeah, I think I do. Was he
34:12
Speaker 1: flattered or was he like, son, what are you doing?
34:15
Speaker 1: You know? Or maybe he said he was the ultimate
34:17
Speaker 1: honor that you wanted to do it. I think he was.
34:19
Speaker 1: I think he was excited about the fact that I
34:21
Speaker 1: was interested in in in doing it. Um, probably because
34:24
Speaker 1: he knew he could he could help me along and uh,
34:27
Speaker 1: you know, he's obviously been my biggest mentor and the
34:29
Speaker 1: biggest influence in my coaching career, and so I think
34:32
Speaker 1: he felt some pride and that some some connection in that,
34:35
Speaker 1: which has been great. Um. It's how we've always connected
34:38
Speaker 1: is through football. And you know, it's like some guys
34:40
Speaker 1: go fishing with their dads and my dad and I
34:42
Speaker 1: talked about football and it's great and I love it,
34:45
Speaker 1: and it's it's been a it's been a really really
34:47
Speaker 1: fun process of growing through it and talking to him
34:50
Speaker 1: all the time about all the things and teams and
34:52
Speaker 1: games and scheme, and um, it's been great. My mom
34:55
Speaker 1: was the one that wasn't so happy about it when
34:57
Speaker 1: I told her, Um, she said, she said, you're gonna
35:01
Speaker 1: get to de grease from U C l A. And
35:02
Speaker 1: you're gonna do this, And I said, um, I think
35:05
Speaker 1: I am. I think I am gonna do it. She
35:07
Speaker 1: wasn't as happy for me, I don't think at the time,
35:10
Speaker 1: because she's the one that's got to do all the
35:12
Speaker 1: hard lifting for coaching a move and the family and
35:14
Speaker 1: selling houses and you know, we moved quite a bit
35:17
Speaker 1: obviously over the years. But I got lucky to to
35:19
Speaker 1: finish my high school in one spot. But yeah, coaching
35:22
Speaker 1: is coaching is a very rewarding profession. It's also very
35:25
Speaker 1: hard one. When he when he was coach of the Raiders,
35:28
Speaker 1: um as the head coach, Rich Gannon was the quarterback.
35:32
Speaker 1: Did you get any interaction with ganex MVP Seas and
35:34
Speaker 1: He's like, you're so good with quarterbacks and we're gonna
35:37
Speaker 1: get into it. Like your history with quarterbacks is incredible.
35:39
Speaker 1: Did you have any as a high school kid, had
35:41
Speaker 1: any relationship to Rich Gannon who was winning MVP awards? Yeah,
35:44
Speaker 1: I did. In fact, that was you know, that's always
35:46
Speaker 1: been the most fun part of growing up a coaches kid,
35:49
Speaker 1: which I think is you talked to guys that have
35:50
Speaker 1: gotten into coaching over the years. Um, that's what they
35:53
Speaker 1: That's what draws into it because all I've ever known
35:56
Speaker 1: is practice fields and locker rooms and meeting rooms, and
35:59
Speaker 1: I've just been around it forever. And by the time
36:01
Speaker 1: I got to high school, you know, I've been bitten
36:03
Speaker 1: by the football bug. I was enjoyed playing, I'm joyed
36:06
Speaker 1: the process of it all. And um I started hanging
36:09
Speaker 1: out at mini camps and training camp. I worked at
36:12
Speaker 1: training camp when I was in high school. UM, and
36:14
Speaker 1: so all those years I was up there, I got
36:16
Speaker 1: to sit in meetings with Rich and John grun And
36:19
Speaker 1: and my dad, and those were really really formative times
36:22
Speaker 1: for me. Um, just as a as I reflect back
36:25
Speaker 1: on all the lessons I learned, probably subconsciously more than
36:27
Speaker 1: anything else, as you look back at and the things
36:29
Speaker 1: that you heard and saw and and and observed, everything
36:32
Speaker 1: you just sort of learned through observing. And it was
36:35
Speaker 1: an incredible time. Rich was really kind to me. He
36:37
Speaker 1: he invested a little bit of time in me, and um,
36:40
Speaker 1: you know, I'd ask him questions and he'd answer him
36:42
Speaker 1: and he was really great for me as a as
36:44
Speaker 1: a like a sixteen year old seventeen year old kid,
36:46
Speaker 1: and Rich Cannon, the MVP the league is answering your questions. Yeah,
36:49
Speaker 1: it was pretty awesome. UM. And it's you know, and
36:51
Speaker 1: it's there's there's coaches that were there at the time
36:54
Speaker 1: that that gave me time. You know. Jim Harbaugh was
36:56
Speaker 1: there as a quality control coach. Uh. David Shaw was
36:59
Speaker 1: there as a quality control coach at the time. And
37:00
Speaker 1: so those are the guys that I, you know, I
37:02
Speaker 1: would ask questions and be around and they were always
37:04
Speaker 1: really generous with their time and all all of those
37:06
Speaker 1: people at as I made a pretty big impact on
37:09
Speaker 1: me as a as a young football player. Um. And
37:11
Speaker 1: there's a lot of lessons I drawed back on from
37:12
Speaker 1: that time to time as a being around those types
37:15
Speaker 1: of people and players. UM. You know, as sixteen seventeen
37:18
Speaker 1: year old kid, you have one of the cool like
37:21
Speaker 1: reputations in the league as a quarterback guru. And it's
37:23
Speaker 1: not because you have no but it is like I'm
37:26
Speaker 1: gonna go through the list and you're gonna take me
37:28
Speaker 1: through it. But you get somewhere and it's all different types.
37:31
Speaker 1: The first real quarterback I'm looking at your resume here.
37:34
Speaker 1: You go to Denver and it's you know, the Broncos.
37:36
Speaker 1: Hears with John Fox and it's before Peyton gets there.
37:39
Speaker 1: Tim Tebow's the quarterback and he goes in mid season
37:43
Speaker 1: and you guys went a little run and Tebow time
37:45
Speaker 1: was a thing. You had to draw up an offense
37:48
Speaker 1: and nothing against Tebow's skills, but you have to drop
37:51
Speaker 1: an offense that accentuated his strengths. What was that like
37:54
Speaker 1: as a young coach and what are your memories of
37:56
Speaker 1: the Tebow Broncos and Tebow time, and you know, the
37:59
Speaker 1: mania that really became of it. It was. It was
38:02
Speaker 1: one of the most wild series of games and events
38:06
Speaker 1: that I've probably even never been a part of. Just
38:09
Speaker 1: the momentum that that carried, the adulation that he received,
38:13
Speaker 1: the ways that we won those games were crazy. Um,
38:16
Speaker 1: all kinds of wild stuff would happen, and um, it
38:19
Speaker 1: was just it was a really fun time to be
38:22
Speaker 1: a you know, I think it was my second year
38:23
Speaker 1: in the league that happened, and I was like, is
38:25
Speaker 1: this always what this is like? You know? And um,
38:28
Speaker 1: but I think we had a really good set of
38:29
Speaker 1: coaches there. I think that's that was a phenomenal offensive staff.
38:32
Speaker 1: Was on that staff. I'm picturing that the winds. I
38:34
Speaker 1: don't remember the staff. Yeah, it was. Mike McCoy was
38:36
Speaker 1: off as coordinator. Adam Gates was was the quarterbacks coach.
38:41
Speaker 1: Um uh Tyke Tolbert was a receiver coach. Eric Studisville
38:45
Speaker 1: was a running back coach. Clancy Barron was our tight
38:48
Speaker 1: ends coach. Um and and Dave Magazoo was our offensive
38:51
Speaker 1: line coach. So we had we had a lot of
38:53
Speaker 1: veteran coaches, a lot of experience guys that have gone
38:55
Speaker 1: to be head coaches in the NFL, and um, you know,
38:58
Speaker 1: those guys kind of raised me if you will. You know,
39:00
Speaker 1: those are the guys that I invested in my career
39:03
Speaker 1: at a young point, especially you know, Eric Studisville and
39:05
Speaker 1: Adam Gayson, like those guys really invested in in me
39:10
Speaker 1: and trying to feel to find an offense that was
39:13
Speaker 1: really you know, we were doing things then that not
39:15
Speaker 1: a lot of people were doing the NFL. We had
39:17
Speaker 1: transitioned to a little bit more quarterback run games, some
39:20
Speaker 1: of the option game. Um, you know, I had coached
39:22
Speaker 1: and played in an option offense in high school, so
39:25
Speaker 1: I felt like I might have had a little bit
39:26
Speaker 1: of uh experience that was valuable and I could have
39:29
Speaker 1: some input. And you know, I just thought we did
39:31
Speaker 1: a great job collectively of finding ways to highlight tim
39:34
Speaker 1: strengths and um, you know, find a way to win
39:36
Speaker 1: a bunch of games, and we did. We found a
39:38
Speaker 1: way to the playoffs in that Pittsburgh game with the
39:40
Speaker 1: walkoff touchdown and did it was one of the probably
39:43
Speaker 1: one of the cooler moments in my career. So that
39:45
Speaker 1: was a lot of fun It's funny because I remember
39:47
Speaker 1: the Dolphins when I'm not even I'm not looking at
39:49
Speaker 1: a spreadsheet or anything. Off time I had Dolphins game.
39:51
Speaker 1: It comes in, you guys, when I remember the Jets
39:53
Speaker 1: Thursday night game was wild win that one. But I
39:57
Speaker 1: remember specifically a Bears game where the late Marian Barbera
40:00
Speaker 1: fumbles late and it's like these things aren't supposed to happen.
40:04
Speaker 1: Tebow was getting opportunities and it was like this is
40:07
Speaker 1: written in the stars. And then the Pittsburgh playoff game
40:10
Speaker 1: where famously, on the first playoff overtime he had's the
40:13
Speaker 1: late de Marius Thomas on a pass and eventually the
40:16
Speaker 1: luck ran out, and not luck, but just the Patriots
40:18
Speaker 1: were too good and they beat you guys on a
40:19
Speaker 1: Saturday night though, like I think Gronk had seventeen touchdowns.
40:22
Speaker 1: But this was pretty good that day, I think so.
40:25
Speaker 1: But it was a great run. And then the following
40:28
Speaker 1: year it's like all right, for a couple years, it's
40:31
Speaker 1: it's Peyton Manning and you couldn't think of a more
40:33
Speaker 1: different thing of like young Tebow trying to draw it
40:36
Speaker 1: up in the in this in the dirt, like how
40:37
Speaker 1: we gonna make this work too? Then the ultimate Sheriff
40:40
Speaker 1: in the ultimate cerebral quarterback shifting from Tebow to Manning.
40:46
Speaker 1: How does it work with Peyton Manning? And then how
40:48
Speaker 1: do you get a voice with Peyton Manning when he's
40:49
Speaker 1: a guy who's got so many accomplishments and it was
40:51
Speaker 1: obviously had years of wisdom in that brain of his. Yeah,
40:56
Speaker 1: I think the starting point for me is I had
40:58
Speaker 1: to earn I had to earn his trust, um in
41:01
Speaker 1: the in the football world of did I do the work?
41:05
Speaker 1: Can I do the work, can I keep up? Do
41:07
Speaker 1: I understand? Can I help him? Um? And I had
41:09
Speaker 1: to earn that respect, um and earn that trust from
41:12
Speaker 1: him over over time, and I had to put the
41:13
Speaker 1: work in And it was It was probably, um, the
41:17
Speaker 1: most fun I've had coaching in terms of just the
41:20
Speaker 1: pressure and expectation and intensity. Would he challenge you guys
41:23
Speaker 1: like I feel like usually it's the coaches challenging the players.
41:26
Speaker 1: But was painting picturing you and Adam Gaye in the
41:28
Speaker 1: room and they just peppering you with questions. Yeah, that's
41:30
Speaker 1: about what it was. And um, and there are all
41:32
Speaker 1: questions that involved trying to win a football game, and
41:34
Speaker 1: they it was everything about what he did every day
41:37
Speaker 1: was trying to be great and trying to win as
41:40
Speaker 1: many games as possible. And you walk into that meeting
41:42
Speaker 1: room and you know, you're I'm in charge of the
41:44
Speaker 1: breakdowns or uh. And and he'd come in and he'd say, hey,
41:47
Speaker 1: go back to this game, go back to that first
41:50
Speaker 1: game six weeks ago. And you called this coverage cover six.
41:54
Speaker 1: But I don't think it's covered six. I think it's
41:55
Speaker 1: too Tampa. And then you would have to defend yourself. Yeah,
41:58
Speaker 1: because now you're in the corner. Yeah, all right, and
42:00
Speaker 1: whether and whether or not you felt like you were
42:02
Speaker 1: right or he was right. Um, and most of the
42:04
Speaker 1: time you know he was right. But uh, that's how
42:07
Speaker 1: you learned. And you learned that that was the type
42:09
Speaker 1: of intensity that was needed all the time. Um, you know.
42:12
Speaker 1: And I felt like over over the first part of
42:15
Speaker 1: those years there, I earned his trust. The information I
42:18
Speaker 1: gave him was accurate. Um, it was it was the
42:20
Speaker 1: right information and he could use it in a game.
42:23
Speaker 1: And UM, you know, I did everything I could to
42:25
Speaker 1: try to help help us win and and help him
42:28
Speaker 1: be prepared. And that was my role. Uh. And during
42:31
Speaker 1: that time in Denver, and it was it was a
42:32
Speaker 1: ton of fun. Let's go back to that Super Bowl
42:35
Speaker 1: when you guys beat the Carolina Panthers. Obviously it's this
42:38
Speaker 1: amazing moment. Uh, paying get the second Super Bowl. Your
42:41
Speaker 1: memories of that run and uh what you take with
42:44
Speaker 1: you now as you're in search of another Super Bowl ring. Yeah,
42:48
Speaker 1: you know that was My memories are probably different than
42:51
Speaker 1: some other people. Was just because that was that was
42:53
Speaker 1: a hard season for him in particular. You know it
42:55
Speaker 1: was he had had the planet fasciatists, he was injured,
42:59
Speaker 1: Um brock Eyes Swaller had played, we had transitioned from
43:02
Speaker 1: really his offense into a hybrid of of Gary Kubia
43:06
Speaker 1: as his offense, and um, you know he was he
43:08
Speaker 1: was battling the injury. He didn't play well early. Um.
43:11
Speaker 1: It was just one of those seasons that you look
43:13
Speaker 1: back and everybody talks about, you know, magical runs, and
43:15
Speaker 1: there wasn't much magical about it. It was hard. Um,
43:18
Speaker 1: there was a lot of ups and downs. And I
43:20
Speaker 1: think that that prepared me for the You get to
43:23
Speaker 1: these moments and seasons and they're not they're not easy,
43:26
Speaker 1: and there is no magic, and it's a lot of
43:28
Speaker 1: hard work. Um, and I think that that really prepared
43:30
Speaker 1: me to handle these types of runs. As you get going,
43:33
Speaker 1: there's gonna be ups and downs. Things aren't gonna go great. Um.
43:36
Speaker 1: You always get those thirty minute TV shows at gloss
43:38
Speaker 1: over all the things that go into it, and you
43:40
Speaker 1: see that and you see all the confetti and all
43:44
Speaker 1: the fun, but you realize that there was, you know,
43:46
Speaker 1: a lot of things that went into that that that
43:47
Speaker 1: weren't perfect and weren't always you didn't always feel like
43:50
Speaker 1: you're on top of the world, and it was a
43:51
Speaker 1: lot of work. And so I think that that's really
43:53
Speaker 1: prepared me to to make the runs that we've had
43:55
Speaker 1: here last year, and and ups and downs that we
43:58
Speaker 1: had that season and to start this season as well.
44:00
Speaker 1: That you just know that it's it's not perfect, and
44:02
Speaker 1: it is hard, and it takes a ton of time
44:04
Speaker 1: and attention and and work to get there. And at
44:07
Speaker 1: the end of it, when you put a bow on
44:08
Speaker 1: all of it, then it feels magical, but there's a
44:10
Speaker 1: lot of work that goes into And I think that
44:12
Speaker 1: was a really valuable lesson that year in two dozen
44:14
Speaker 1: fifteen that, um, you know, and you gotta play your
44:16
Speaker 1: best at the moment in the season when it's required,
44:20
Speaker 1: which is usually December in the January, and that's where
44:23
Speaker 1: you have to play your best football, all right. So
44:29
Speaker 1: you go from Tebow, which was just ingenuity and and creativity,
44:33
Speaker 1: go to pay In, which is cerebral, but you know,
44:35
Speaker 1: one of the greatest ever do it. And then you
44:37
Speaker 1: get Stafford in Detroit, who's just got the ultimate canon. Um,
44:41
Speaker 1: your memories of Matthew Stafford, and when you went up
44:44
Speaker 1: against him in the Super Bowl last year, were you
44:46
Speaker 1: are you serious? Are we really doing this right now?
44:48
Speaker 1: That's how I felt. Yeah, I just I have a
44:51
Speaker 1: ton of respect for Matthew. He's an unbelievable competitor. Um.
44:55
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's what you would you'd probably call
44:57
Speaker 1: he's earn the right to be called a warrior, you know,
44:59
Speaker 1: the things that he plays through, the toughness that he's
45:02
Speaker 1: uh exhibited over his career, and the incredible pastor that
45:05
Speaker 1: he's been for the time he's gotten in the league
45:07
Speaker 1: and until now is um. You know, I think he's
45:10
Speaker 1: a fantastic player. I loved working with him for you
45:13
Speaker 1: for two years. It was a good run. We were
45:14
Speaker 1: a pretty good offense those two years, made the playoffs,
45:17
Speaker 1: one year, just missed at the second year before they
45:19
Speaker 1: fired Jim Caldwell there. And uh, I love him as
45:22
Speaker 1: a person. Um, I think he's an incredible player, and
45:25
Speaker 1: we had a ton of fun and I like to
45:27
Speaker 1: think I helped him a little bit um over those
45:29
Speaker 1: years and and but he's I've always stayed in touch
45:31
Speaker 1: with him, and you know, I was incredibly happy for
45:35
Speaker 1: him that he had a chance to display his ability
45:38
Speaker 1: to the world and uh and win a championship. Unfortunately
45:42
Speaker 1: he came against at our expense here in Cincinnati. But um,
45:45
Speaker 1: there's not a whole lot of guys that have more
45:46
Speaker 1: respect for than Matthew. And I'm happy that he got
45:48
Speaker 1: a chanced to put his talent on display and win
45:51
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl ring. And whenever he decides to hang
45:54
Speaker 1: him up, he's he's got that on the back of
45:56
Speaker 1: his name as a super Bowl champion. I think that's
45:58
Speaker 1: pretty great. He sure does. He've had Derek Carr as well,
46:01
Speaker 1: You've had countless others. Who's the quarterback you haven't had
46:04
Speaker 1: a chance to coach that You've always had admired from
46:06
Speaker 1: afar or maybe I've gotten to know and you love
46:08
Speaker 1: their game. If you were to say, here's a guy
46:11
Speaker 1: in the league now previously that you just watch him
46:13
Speaker 1: on tape, whether you were growing up or whether it
46:15
Speaker 1: was when you were in the coaching and you're just like, gosh,
46:17
Speaker 1: that guy he could sling it. Uh. You know, there's
46:19
Speaker 1: so many unique players now. That's the quarterback position has
46:22
Speaker 1: changed so much and there's so much variance and the
46:25
Speaker 1: types of guys that have success. Um. I always think
46:28
Speaker 1: that it's been fun to you know, fun to watch
46:32
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert play. I think it's been fun to watch
46:34
Speaker 1: Ji and Hurts find a find a niche and a
46:36
Speaker 1: role and really play well. Those guys have been really
46:38
Speaker 1: fun to watch. Um. You know, I I can't say
46:41
Speaker 1: there's anybody that that would ever be more fun for
46:45
Speaker 1: me to coach. Drew Brees was always my hero. Uh
46:47
Speaker 1: is that right? Where is that from? You just love
46:49
Speaker 1: the undersized quarterback? Just decision what that's That's kind of
46:52
Speaker 1: what I fancied myself as as a as a young player.
46:55
Speaker 1: I was a little bit undersized myself, and you know,
46:57
Speaker 1: I didn't have a huge arm, but I was relatively accurate.
47:00
Speaker 1: It was kind of where my strengths were. And um
47:02
Speaker 1: actually followed him. You know he is at Perdue and
47:05
Speaker 1: they went to the Rose Bowl. I was I wore
47:07
Speaker 1: fifteen when I was in high school because I was
47:09
Speaker 1: right around the same time. I was a sophomore and
47:11
Speaker 1: fifteen at Perdu and he would actually did one of
47:14
Speaker 1: our games last year. I had a chance time. I've
47:16
Speaker 1: never got a chance to meet him all the years
47:17
Speaker 1: I've been in the league. Yeah, the playoff game Raiders Bengals,
47:20
Speaker 1: he was on the call. Yeah, And I told him
47:21
Speaker 1: I just when we had a production meeting and I said, hey,
47:23
Speaker 1: before we started, just I have to pay this. I
47:26
Speaker 1: was like, you were my absolute hero growing up higholized
47:29
Speaker 1: everything about your game and it was cool he was.
47:31
Speaker 1: He's one of my favorite players that I never got
47:33
Speaker 1: a chance to coach. And that would be the guy
47:35
Speaker 1: that you know, as a as a fan of quarterback
47:37
Speaker 1: played it. I always had a ton of respect for
47:39
Speaker 1: wely love watching him play the game. So I'm glad
47:41
Speaker 1: I got a chance to finally meet him and tell
47:43
Speaker 1: him that. But yeah, Drew Brees are probably the one
47:45
Speaker 1: full circle and we're gonna wrap it soon. But you know,
47:48
Speaker 1: we're top of mine and we're a topic of the
47:50
Speaker 1: day stuff. I'm not local media here, but go up
47:52
Speaker 1: against the Browns this following week and forget they match up,
47:55
Speaker 1: because that's one thing to me. I look at the
47:58
Speaker 1: ORG charts here the staffs. You're coaching against your dad.
48:01
Speaker 1: What is that week like? And now you get it
48:03
Speaker 1: two times a year. What's it like when you coach
48:04
Speaker 1: against your pops in an NFL game? Yeah? You know that,
48:07
Speaker 1: you know, kind of contrary to most coaches kids, I've
48:10
Speaker 1: never worked for my dad, um. And that was partially
48:13
Speaker 1: by design early on, and then obviously as my career
48:16
Speaker 1: has gone, I've always would have loved to work with them,
48:18
Speaker 1: but never had really had that opportunity line up for us.
48:21
Speaker 1: And we've actually ended up competing against each other more
48:23
Speaker 1: often then I think most coaches. Kids compete against their dads. Uh.
48:27
Speaker 1: And so there's a part of it that's really cool
48:28
Speaker 1: and really special that you get a chance to do that.
48:30
Speaker 1: And I can tell my kids that, you know, you know,
48:33
Speaker 1: dad and Grandpa are facing off today, and that's kind
48:35
Speaker 1: of a fun thing for them. They they play spot
48:38
Speaker 1: the Grandpa on TV when they try to find them. Um.
48:41
Speaker 1: But that part of its fun, the part where we
48:44
Speaker 1: actually have to compete in the same division for a
48:46
Speaker 1: division title, and you know, wins and losses matter, and
48:49
Speaker 1: you're having to go against your own dad when you're
48:52
Speaker 1: you know, I grew up my dad's biggest fan. Every
48:54
Speaker 1: team we ever coached for was always a team that
48:56
Speaker 1: I loved following. And uh, that part is not my favorite.
48:59
Speaker 1: I don't enjoy that as much. Um, and I don't.
49:02
Speaker 1: I don't particularly enjoy having a coach and the division
49:04
Speaker 1: against them. Yeah, it's it's very, very Twice a year
49:07
Speaker 1: is not my favorite. It's you know, we've gotten good
49:09
Speaker 1: at we've done it for you know, quite a while now.
49:11
Speaker 1: But I don't enjoy particularly having to compete against my dad,
49:15
Speaker 1: just because I think we root for each other success,
49:17
Speaker 1: and really it kind of goes counterintuitive to all the
49:21
Speaker 1: things that we've always felt. You know, you're always rotten
49:22
Speaker 1: for each other that, but now you're not. You're trying
49:24
Speaker 1: to beat each other in big division games that matter,
49:27
Speaker 1: and so that that part is not my favorite. But um,
49:30
Speaker 1: there is something about it that it's pretty unique and special.
49:32
Speaker 1: It's cool, and it's gonna be a great matchup. Those
49:34
Speaker 1: guys have had your number of it and years and
49:37
Speaker 1: and it's time for the Bengals to to see what
49:39
Speaker 1: they can make of this season. UM, wrapping up, you
49:42
Speaker 1: know a lot of people around the league listening to
49:43
Speaker 1: this podcast, people are always chiming in, Hey, this guy,
49:47
Speaker 1: your name's come up a bunch of someone that they
49:49
Speaker 1: want to hear from because there's a there's a good
49:51
Speaker 1: chance you're gonna get one of those HC jobs in
49:53
Speaker 1: the next couple of years. Uh, what are your values?
49:57
Speaker 1: What are your your leadership like? What does Brian Callahan
50:00
Speaker 1: brings to the table to a team? And I'm not
50:01
Speaker 1: asking you to do any audition or interview from me,
50:04
Speaker 1: but for those of us who are going to know
50:05
Speaker 1: you now the first time, what do you bring to
50:08
Speaker 1: the table and how would you like to be looked
50:10
Speaker 1: at as a leader? I think I'm consistent. You know
50:12
Speaker 1: that my approaches is very consistent. My emotions are very consistent.
50:16
Speaker 1: I think you get that way working with quarterbacks just
50:18
Speaker 1: because that's how you that's how you have to approach
50:20
Speaker 1: the position. UM, not to say that I don't have
50:22
Speaker 1: intensity behind it or I can't get on guys, and UM,
50:25
Speaker 1: I think you know our guys will be the first
50:27
Speaker 1: to tell you that that I've fully capable and fully
50:29
Speaker 1: willing to jump on when that one is necessary. But UM,
50:32
Speaker 1: I think there's a there is a value and a
50:34
Speaker 1: consistent demeanor and a consistent approach. UM. I do think
50:37
Speaker 1: sometimes calmness is contagious. You know, when you're in big moments,
50:41
Speaker 1: in big, big spots, when everybody's losing their minds, you're
50:44
Speaker 1: the one that kind of stays calm and steady. And
50:46
Speaker 1: I've always prided myself on that, um, you know, and
50:48
Speaker 1: I think my my coaching style is is one of
50:51
Speaker 1: I try to build relationships the best I can. It's
50:53
Speaker 1: a it's a people business. That always has been, it
50:55
Speaker 1: always will be. And UM, the better you get to
50:57
Speaker 1: know your players, the more they trust you, the more
50:59
Speaker 1: they buy into what you're saying, the more that um,
51:02
Speaker 1: they allow you to to enter another relationship trust and
51:05
Speaker 1: be able to coach and teach from a place that
51:07
Speaker 1: they always feel like you're you're trying to make them better, UM,
51:10
Speaker 1: and they're gonna be able to to reach their goals
51:12
Speaker 1: and dreams as well. That's our jobs as coaches to
51:14
Speaker 1: put those guys in those positions to to make money
51:16
Speaker 1: and get paid and win games. And I think that
51:19
Speaker 1: that's that's always how I've been. I'm probably never going
51:21
Speaker 1: to change that, and um, you know hopefully that you
51:24
Speaker 1: know it doesn't whether somebody else likes it or not,
51:27
Speaker 1: I have no control over that. But um, I try
51:29
Speaker 1: to do to the best job I can more Matt,
51:32
Speaker 1: and let the rest of it take care of itself. Yeah,
51:34
Speaker 1: I mean, just for my You're incredibly intelligent, obviously your humble, UM,
51:39
Speaker 1: but you are one of those dudes and there's I
51:41
Speaker 1: guess a lot of coaches say I am too. You
51:43
Speaker 1: live in breathe football. I feel like it's everything that
51:46
Speaker 1: we've ever spoken. I just I feel like this is
51:48
Speaker 1: you're a great family man and all that, and you've
51:50
Speaker 1: got a wonderful, you know, full life, but you live
51:53
Speaker 1: in breathe football. And I think that's what the fans
51:55
Speaker 1: need to know. And my last question, it's it's about
51:58
Speaker 1: the Bengals fans because I'm on Good Morning Football. We
52:01
Speaker 1: have watched this rise from the ashes like a phoenix,
52:04
Speaker 1: and there might be no more passionate fan base that
52:07
Speaker 1: maybe I didn't even know about going into this job
52:10
Speaker 1: as one of those fan bases. Maybe it's because of
52:13
Speaker 1: the winds, maybe it's because of of the style of
52:16
Speaker 1: Borough and maybe it's just because they've been waiting to
52:19
Speaker 1: explode with with all of this over the last couple
52:21
Speaker 1: of years. What has been your impression and reception of
52:25
Speaker 1: the Bengals fan base and what that thing has become.
52:28
Speaker 1: They they're the best. Well, I love them, I love Cincinnati,
52:31
Speaker 1: I love people here, I love living here. But you
52:34
Speaker 1: can see they're they're passionate about their their city. And
52:36
Speaker 1: you see a lot of these places, you know, the
52:38
Speaker 1: Cincinnati is the Buffaloes, the Detroits. People are really really
52:41
Speaker 1: proud of their cities and what they stand for. And um,
52:45
Speaker 1: you know, Ohio has always been a great football state. Um.
52:48
Speaker 1: You know, you look even at the prep football scene
52:50
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati and throughout the state. I mean there's there's
52:53
Speaker 1: a passionate support for the sport of football Ohio state.
52:57
Speaker 1: And those are you see Cincinnati, I mean those Miami Ohio. Um,
53:03
Speaker 1: there's just a passion for football, and uh, they love
53:07
Speaker 1: the Bengals and it's it's been a phenomenal Let mean,
53:10
Speaker 1: the support in the stadium our game days have been
53:12
Speaker 1: electric this year. It's been really really fun. But they
53:15
Speaker 1: love football and now they have a they have a
53:17
Speaker 1: team that they can get behind, and we've we've given
53:19
Speaker 1: them something to cheer about and be excited about. And um,
53:22
Speaker 1: I think that that they appreciate it, and and they
53:25
Speaker 1: don't take it for granted. And they love the fact
53:27
Speaker 1: that they got a team that's really fun to be
53:29
Speaker 1: around and fun to follow and and we're competitive and
53:31
Speaker 1: we can win games. And uh, they've been done a
53:33
Speaker 1: great job with our atmosphere and it's it's a fun
53:35
Speaker 1: city to be winning football games. And I think, as
53:37
Speaker 1: you saw at the end of last year, Uh, you know,
53:40
Speaker 1: the we can still only envision what a Super Bowl
53:42
Speaker 1: plade would be like here, but we think about it
53:44
Speaker 1: every day and and I think it's it's one of
53:46
Speaker 1: those things that that keeps everybody going because the fan
53:48
Speaker 1: base has been fantastic. They are is passionate and um
53:52
Speaker 1: excited about what our team is and where we could
53:54
Speaker 1: be headed that Uh they're not afraid to let everybody
53:57
Speaker 1: know either, which is great. It's really cool. The game
53:59
Speaker 1: they experience is totally different than it used to be.
54:01
Speaker 1: I feel like it's a it's almost a college atmosphere.
54:04
Speaker 1: A lot of that credit it's obviously the team and
54:06
Speaker 1: the players. I think Elizabeth Blackburn's in an incredible job
54:08
Speaker 1: with the branding and the marketing and their stand engagement. Um,
54:12
Speaker 1: the social media team is really good, like they're engaged.
54:15
Speaker 1: And I would say the fan base like I've gotten
54:17
Speaker 1: to know something like this Bengals gym is all the
54:19
Speaker 1: fans like he's great. Uh. This woman Whitney on Twitter,
54:23
Speaker 1: This Lindsay Patterson, she follows a team like engaged, smart
54:27
Speaker 1: And that's what happens with winning football and for a
54:30
Speaker 1: hot bed of football like you guys have And couldn't
54:32
Speaker 1: be happier for you personally, but couldn't be happier for
54:34
Speaker 1: the team as well. Um, Brian, you're the men. I
54:37
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Good luck from here on out. We're doing
54:40
Speaker 1: this in week fourteen. Let's see how it goes from here.
54:43
Speaker 1: But first you gotta beat your pops. Man. Yeah, like
54:46
Speaker 1: I said, they've had our number, So we gotta work
54:47
Speaker 1: cut out for us. And it's it's it's a big
54:49
Speaker 1: divisional game and we gotta win one of these divisional
54:51
Speaker 1: games here. We just got steeling the Steelers a couple
54:53
Speaker 1: of weeks ago, and now we've got to get another
54:55
Speaker 1: one year with Cleveland. So it's uh, it'll be a battle.
54:57
Speaker 1: They always are. ANFC North get back to work and
55:00
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us. Really appreciate your time. Thanks, Peter,
55:02
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Man. Many thanks to Brian Callahan, the offensive
55:05
Speaker 1: coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals. You heard it from him.
55:08
Speaker 1: They have a huge game against the Cleveland Browns. What
55:10
Speaker 1: happens often as a team will get so hyped for
55:13
Speaker 1: that big game against one team, and in this case
55:15
Speaker 1: it's the Chiefs, and then maybe they have a hiccup
55:17
Speaker 1: over the next week because they got so hyped that
55:19
Speaker 1: they're kind of feeding off that are reading the headlines.
55:21
Speaker 1: I get the feeling listening to Brian Callahan, he's Zach
55:24
Speaker 1: Taylor and defensive coordinator Lewin and remote do not allow
55:27
Speaker 1: that to happen, and that they will be focused in
55:29
Speaker 1: and dialed in to beat the Shawn Watson and the Browns.
55:32
Speaker 1: We flipped the page to week fourteen and there's there's
55:37
Speaker 1: gonna be press conferences this week and they're gonna be
55:39
Speaker 1: asking Tom Brady questions about Brock Purty, and that to
55:42
Speaker 1: me is what's amazing. You know, obviously Purty story is
55:46
Speaker 1: this this wild ride, but Brady has been through it,
55:49
Speaker 1: before too Aaron Tampa survives another one. They're six and six,
55:54
Speaker 1: they're kind of on fumes and yet their playoff team
55:58
Speaker 1: right now, and they're going to San Francisco with the
56:00
Speaker 1: first real week of Brock Purty Ball. And if I'm
56:03
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay, I'm studying Purty's film from last week and
56:05
Speaker 1: I'm getting a normal better might not be as easy
56:07
Speaker 1: as it was against the Dolphins. Uh, that's the game
56:10
Speaker 1: that got that has me hype this week? What do
56:11
Speaker 1: you got? I have to say the one I'm most
56:13
Speaker 1: excited for is what got flex in the Sunday night.
56:16
Speaker 1: I want to see Dolphins Chargers to A has had
56:19
Speaker 1: an amazing season and then kind of got shut down
56:21
Speaker 1: by the forty niners. But I want to see him
56:24
Speaker 1: bounce back. I want to see Waddle come back healthy.
56:26
Speaker 1: I want to see them show up. And also there's
56:29
Speaker 1: this long running narrative of Herbert to Uh That'sphins took
56:33
Speaker 1: to it before Herbert. I'll tell you what, though, can
56:36
Speaker 1: the Chargers win a game? You know what's like? They're
56:40
Speaker 1: getting primetime love here and to look at their record,
56:45
Speaker 1: and I'm a big brand and Staley fan for what
56:47
Speaker 1: he's done defensively, and I'm I love Herbert, I love
56:49
Speaker 1: that Clert, I love all of it. But like, I mean,
56:52
Speaker 1: come on, you got the Raiders last week, You're up
56:55
Speaker 1: tend nothing again. It's another crucible game. It feels like
56:58
Speaker 1: for the Chargers, we've seen him in primetime year after
57:01
Speaker 1: year after year. It feels like they lose a lot
57:02
Speaker 1: of these games. And there's also the Jets Pills game.
57:06
Speaker 1: I mean like there's there's a lot of good stuff
57:08
Speaker 1: this weekend. And I know that they couldn't flex Bills
57:11
Speaker 1: Jets into Sunday Night because Mike White, you know, it's
57:13
Speaker 1: too busy working on White Lotus Sunday night, so he couldn't.
57:16
Speaker 1: He couldn't do the Sunday Night. Not all caught up,
57:18
Speaker 1: I'm fine, I got two more. I'm not either. I
57:20
Speaker 1: got in trouble actually this morning for not being caught
57:22
Speaker 1: up someone someone yeah, yeah, working on the NFL shows.
57:27
Speaker 1: I know. My partner was like, I'm getting spoiled on
57:30
Speaker 1: all these episodes. Episode are you up to? I'm five
57:32
Speaker 1: in we're five to yeah, some some ending to the
57:35
Speaker 1: fifth episode, yes, and we're hoping that we'll be all
57:38
Speaker 1: caught up by Friday. Okay, I'll make a deal with you.
57:41
Speaker 1: I will watch the sixth episode. We will go into
57:43
Speaker 1: the finale together. Ready, but we gotta watch Dolphins Chargers
57:46
Speaker 1: of course. Yeah. On behalf of my friend Aaron Jan Kaufman,
57:51
Speaker 1: on behalf of Jason English, the maestro of the I
57:53
Speaker 1: Heart Team, on behalf of the NFL Network, the NFL
57:56
Speaker 1: Digital Team, on behalf of our music man, Jack Rudd.
58:00
Speaker 1: I want to thank everybody for listening. Awesome week ahead.
58:03
Speaker 1: Uh Brian Callahan fantastic. That's the off. It's a coordinator
58:07
Speaker 1: of the Bengals. You now got to know him, and
58:08
Speaker 1: when he's a head coach of your team, you'll say,
58:10
Speaker 1: I remember when until next week? The Season with Peter Schreeger.
58:30
Speaker 1: The Season with Peter Schreeger is a production of the
58:33
Speaker 1: NFL and partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
58:37
Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio, is it the I Heart Radio app,
58:39
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.